Tick Tock Goes the Clock
by Psych-case
Summary: Charlene Sparrow, daughter of a billionaire, pairs up with her genius (and dying) little brother to become a hero after a run in with Harley and the Joker. (OC/Batgirl) There will be lots of steampunk type things in the story also which I'm excited to write about. Rated T to be safe. HIATUS FOR NOW
1. Inciting Incident

"SAVE THE MONKEYS!" I scream, raising my protest sign against Star Lab's use of harmful chemicals into the forest, chemicals that were sickening the monkeys to death and causing the whole ecosystem to be thrown off balance. "PROTECT THE RAINFOREST!" My voice is hoarse as the sun starts to set over the street full of protesters, being here at seven AM this morning to nine PM was really starting to take it's toll on my body. I had shared a PB&J with a fellow protester and a bottle of water with another one. In my back pocket my cellphone rings, I pull it out, working my way out of the crowd. "Hello?"

"Charlie? I need you to-" My dad's voice comes over the phone, "What the hell is going on around you? Wait - do I want to know?" I bringe, considering my father is a big donor to Star Labs research I shake my head, then remember that he can't see me and say,

"Probably not, Dad. What did you want?" I hand off my sign to some protester and walk into a store for more quiet,

"Company party in an hour, be there. Please, Darling." Holding the phone to my chest I curse and then bring it up to my ear,

"I'll be there, Daddy." I hang up and groan, sliding the phone into my back pocket. Looking around I notice that I'm in a David's Bridal shop, I wave down the manager,

"Hello, Dear. What are you looking for? You seem a little young to be getting married…" I pull of the red bandana that covers my wavy brown hair and take off my circular sunglasses to show my green eyes, one lighter than the other. My trademark.

"I have a dance to be at in an hour and I'm in need of an outfit. Red or black please." She purses her glossed lips and tugs at a strand of grey hair,

"Yes, Miss Sparrow. Size?" I give her a bright smile,

"Size eight, 40D, I prefer a three inch heel due to my height, and as you can see I'm pear shaped."

In half an hour I'm trussed up in a corset back dress that's an apple red with one shoulder and a decent slit up the left side that's classy, not trashy. I pay the lady and walk out of the store and over to a jewelry store and walk in, straight up to the young girl behind the diamond filled cases.

"I need a large diamond necklace, silver bracelet, and diamond earrings. Also if you happen to have a curling wand and bobby pins that'd be great." The girl tucks a strand of blonde hair behind her ear,

"Price range, Miss?" I hold up my platinum credit card,

"I have no limit but I need it in the next ten minutes." I look down at the cases and spot a nice display, "Actually, I'll take that whole set right there and-" I see a tennis bracelet, "Ooh, and that." The sales rep giggles and takes them out of the case, the manager sees me and walks over,

"Hello, Miss Sparrow," He takes the items pulled from the case and begins to slip them into black, velvet cases, "Will this be all?" I offer a smile,

"Yes, Sir, but if you wouldn't mind I'd like to wear them out. I have a last minute party to attend to." The manager tries to mask the shock on his face but hands over the jewelry and I hand over my credit card, within a few minutes I manage to get a few bobby pins and and a small makeup bag from the girl that had first served me, "May I use your employee restroom to do my makeup and hair?" The manager is stunned but agrees when I slip him a twenty, I quickly enter the room and contour my face the best I can and do a simple smokey eye and use some clear lipgloss on my naturally red lips. Using the bobby pins and a hair tie I pull my hair into a fishtail braid down my back. I look like the billionaire daughter I am when I walk out of the jewelry store and hail a cab to the Next Sun's Law company party at the Royal Hotel in Gotham. Tonight I was Charlene Deirdre Sparrow. Sixteen year old daughter of Brianna and Trenton Sparrow, both only childs of old money and married with no context of love but social furthering. My brother, a genius contained to a bed at the hospital due to cancer, literally, all over his body.

"West 32nd please." The cabbie takes off and I lean back against the cracked upholstery and in five minutes of random tire screeches and stoplights we pull up to the brightly lit hotel where a valet helps me out of the taxi, reporters begin taking shots of me, I give a dazzling smile and blow a kiss before entering the red carpeted entryway.

"Charlene, darling. There you are." My father takes my arm and kisses my cheek, leaning closer to me he whispers, "If you put on a nice show tonight I'll let you have a full day with Miles tomorrow." My smile gets wider, kissing dad on the cheek I walk over to the Mayor and introduce myself.

"Mr. Mayor, hi. My name is Charlene Sparrow, it's a pleasure to meet you." I let the grubby man take and kiss my hand,

"The pleasure is all mine, Miss Sparrow." Giggling I place the hand flirtatiously in front of my mouth before placing it back at me waist,

"Oh, please Mr. Mayor. Call me Charlene." The Mayor seems delighted and starts up a conversation with another man in a suit. I move on as well, picking up a flute of champagne from a waitress in a sparkly gown. I notice the police commissioner and begin to make my way across the ballroom when the windows shatter in a hail of gunfire. I let out a shout of surprise and start to reach for an abandoned drink tray for a shield but some goon in a mask in kicks me in the stomach, "Ahh!" I cry out in pain as stars dance in my vision, I look up to see that it's the Joker and Harley Quinn.

"Look Mistah J, rich Gothamites all in one place. Just for you!" The psycho jester girl flashes the melted clown a smile that clearly transmits that she's in love.

"Shut up, Harley. I'm trying to think." The Joker hits her and a flash of angers runs through me, even if she was a villain she didn't deserved to be abused. The Joker takes a second but seems to get his ideas together, "Okay, everyone. On the ground and don't move a muscle or Harley here will put a bullet in your brain." The jester lets out a squeal of delight and sends a few bullets into the ceiling, I cringe, debating on squirming my way behind the bar but decide that with my at least bruised ribs, it was a bad idea.

"Now, I want all of ya'll to take off your expensives and put them in the bag when one of these nice men come around to ya. Or I'll shoot ya and if you try to call the cops, I'll shoot ya then too. Get the picture?" I begrudgingly start to take off my jewelry and when the masked man comes around I put my things into the bag. Then I notice a shadow above me after the goon passes, it's the Joker. More glass shatters as what I assume to be the Bat Trio coming to our rescue.

"Joker, Harley. Stand down." The Dark Knight growls, the maniac behind me laughs and pulls me up by the hair, biting my lip I keep my scream of pain inside. Batgirl and Robin are already fighting with the goons, Harley coming over and taking me by the hair so that the Joker can walk more over towards Bats.

"Now, now, Batsy. Have some patience, we're just getting started here." Harley hits me with the butt of her gun and I crumple to the floor, everything going black.

A/N: So my newest protagonist! (I had an old account with different stories a few years back). What do you think? (Be nice, please!) I have big plans but I haven't decided who the love interest will be so vote in the reviews, your choices are: Kaldur, Batgirl, or Artemis.

-M


	2. Tick Tock

The next morning I wake up in my bed with a raging headache, the Joker had gotten away after knifing Harley as a distraction. I myself though had been awoken by the paramedics and then had been driven home with my parents after being checked for a concussion and broken ribs. I swallow down three Advils and take a shower, towel off, and dress in skinny jeans, a lace top, and black wedges, then pin back my curls into a messy bun. Dad had kept his promise and I could spend the day with Miles, my cancerous little brother. I look at myself in the mirror as I bring the concealing sponge to my bruises from last night.

"I'm not going to be vulnerable ever again." With a new fire I wipe off the concealer I had put on and smudge my eyeliner. Walking into my room my grab my laptop bag and a graphing paper notebook, my brother has a 196 IQ and is working on a degrees online in bio and mechanical engineering. He's only twelve, which is the best part. I walk down the grand staircase and into the kitchen where I find Martha, our cook making up breakfast.

"Good morning, Mistress Charlie." Martha greets me, handing me two paper bags that I know are filled with a home cook breakfast from a graduate of La Cordon Bleu.

"Good morning, Martha, thanks. I can't wait to see Miles." I kiss her cheek, the older woman smiles, wiping her hands on her lacey apron,

"Have fun, tell Master Miles I say hello." I grab my leather jacket and walk out to the car garage and hop onto my motorcycle and speed out of the driveway.

Twenty minutes later I pull up in the parking lot of the Gotham Medical Research Facility (Fancy way of saying hospital for the wealthy) and walk in with grace and authority.

"Good morning, Miss Sparrow." Marsha, the nurse at the front desk greets me,

"Good morning, Marsha. I'll be with Miles all day, I'm assuming my father called?" Marsha nods and I notice she got a new weave,

"Yes, all non necessary check ins and interruptions have been rescheduled." I give a dazzling grin,

"Thank you, and Marsha?" She looks up from her paperwork, "I like your weave." She thanks me as I walk to the elevators and ride it up to my brother's private room on the third floor. I knock on the door and walk in, "Guess who came to see her favorite little brother!" Miles sits up in his bed with messy blond hair and bright green eyes,

"Charlie!" I rush over and hug him,

"God, I missed you, Miles." He pulls back and catches sight of the bags I have,

"Martha made breakfast?" I rustle his hair,

"You bet, Scout." He takes in the bruises spraying my face and reaches out to touch them but I catch his wrist, "I'm fine, Scout. Dad's company party got hit by Harley and Joker." Miles nods, party crashers were usual in Gotham. I toss him a bag of food and drag over a chair to the bed and open my own, I find a ham and cheese bagel, an apple, and a bottle of water. Not first class, but my favorite. After we both hurriedly scarf down our breakfast I grab his hand,

"What's up, Charlie?" He asks quizzically, I grab a sketchbook that I had been doodling in last night,

"I was wondering if you wanted to become a superhero with me." He opens his mouth to say something but I intervene, "I mean you could make something so that you could be there with me the whole time, after last night I want to be the hero, not the victim." Miles bites his lip but slowly grins,

"I think that'd be awesome, Charlie. Like I could design stuff and email it to the lab, they could make it, and then you could be the public figure." I nod and flip open the book to a diagram of a pocket watch,

"So here's what I was thinking…"

* * *

A month later I sit on the floor of my bedroom doing crunches. In the past month a lot has happend, Miles and I had been working closely with his friends at the university to come up with all the gadgets I would need to be a hero, all of them looking steampunk.

I had also, with a generous check, gotten my hands on a steel corset like in Finley Jayne. It was slightly uncomfortable but gave a nice amount of protection.

My father, of his own free will, decided to buy a gym with an on call staff of personal and defensive trainers that I had been utilizing at every available moment.

Tonight was the night that I was finally going to go out as my superhero persona, Tick Tock. I had decided that for my first night out in a lightweight but layered skirt of a deep brown color, a red blouse over top of my corset and slip that was vertically striped at the collar area, I have a belted red and brown belt pouch around my waist, I braid my hair but my bangs still hang in my face when I strap on my computerized goggles. A small image of Miles pops up and he's wearing a Batman mask, I chuckle,

"What's up, Scout? You ready for this?" The mask nods,

"You bet, Charlie. CCTV at a local jewelry store just caught a break in, there hasn't been any alarms tripped yet but I suggest you hustle, coordinates are being sent to ." I thank him and grab my staff with an electric claw at each end and strap it to my back and duck out of the window.

I had also managed to buy a new bike (not very legally) that was vintage and it was great so I zoom out towards the jewelry store.

* * *

I jump through the broken window (How did they break a window without tripping the alarm…) and immediately inhabilitate one of the three robbers with my electric staff end,

"Tick Tock, boys. Looks like your time is up." My voice modulator makes my voice eerily mechanical,

"What the hell?" They turn around and I pull a pocket watch looking smoke bomb and click the button, throwing it at them, with a small chime it goes off, the two men randomly swigging out at me, dropping down I kick their legs out from under them and incapacitate them with my staff. Miles is jumping down on his hospital bed, whooping in excitement.

"You did it, Charlie!" I grin,

"Thanks, Scout." I pull a length of rope from my pouch and tie the three bad guys together, moving their weapons to the other side of the room with the jewels before leaving a small note on the front door.

'Tick Tock goes the clock.'

A/N: Thanks to everybody who reviewed! I really do love the comments, right now the love interest race is at a tie between Batgirl and Artemis 1-1. Right now I am leaning towards Batgirl, they will all meet at some point in the story, I'm not sure if I will have Charlie join the team or not, maybe just be a partial member and work with the Bats or maybe another mentor? Tell me what you think, darlings and I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

-M


	3. They Meet

Batgirl POV

"Tick Tock goes the clock?" Artemis asks in astonishment, throwing her hands in the air, "Like what kind of message is that?" I shrug,

"Sounds like something Wally would say…" The speedster doesn't even protest but gives a slight nod of the head, we all look to Robin who had just read the note aloud.

"I don't know but Batman has doubled Gotham patrols so we can confront her and talk to her." I groan at his words, my dad was already suspicious about my nocturnal activities, more patrols would just make it harder to avoid him putting a around the clock police detail on me.

I haven't even met this girl yet and she's already causing me trouble.

* * *

Artemis and I watch from a rooftop as Tick Tock takes down three gang bangers who had been about to attack a waitress walking home from the diner down the street. She made quick work of them with only one cheesy clock pun. She was agile and strong but obviously lacked training. Once she ties up the bad guys she actually climbs onto the rooftop we're on.

"Yeah, I know Scout...Calm down...I am not going to ask her that, Scout." Her voice is tinny and mechanical sounding, clearly masked but goes with her whole steampunk persona.

"Hello there, Tick Tock.." I step towards her with Artemis right behind me,

"We need to talk." I notice how beautiful she looks as she bites her lip in the moonlight and shakes out her braided hair, thankful that my blush is hidden by my cowl I say,

"Batman and the League would like to know your intention." Tick Tock's nose curls slightly,

"I never want to be a victim again." Artemis nods in understanding and offers a small smile,

"If you're interested Batman would like to meet you," I nod,

"I have a burner phone here so he can contact you to set up a meeting." I take the phone out and offer it to her, with a slightly trembling hand she takes it,

"I'd like that, by the way…" She rubs the back of her neck, "My...partner? Would like an autograph of something-" Her eyes unfocus, "Scout, hush." Blinking she refocuses, "Sorry, he's a talker." Artemis and I chuckle at this and I pull out a batarang from my utility pouch,

"Here, we didn't know you have a partner. Be sure to tell Batman." She gingerly places the batarang in her own version of a utility belt,

"I will but I have to go, it was great meeting you two and I'm sure I'll be seeing you again." We say bye and she walks off into the shadows.

On our walk back to the zeta tubes in our civilian clothing I sigh,

"She was pretty cute." Artemis shakes her head,

"Definately, but I'm not sure if I'd pursue it." I shrug, cracking my neck,

"I'm not sure I would either but I'd definitely think about it." Artemis grins,

"I didn't know you swung that way, B." I elbow her side,

"I could say the same for you, Art. Let's just agree not to tell the boys about this." I put out my pinkie and she locks hers with it,

"Deal."

A/N: REally, really short chapter here but I wanted you guys to be introduced to the idea of both Artemis and Barbara being bi-sexual and thinking about Charlie in that way. Please, please, please review! I'm driving my roommate crazy right now at psychology camp (where I'm updating from) with making dissapointed noises every few hours when I check. Also, please vote on the poll on my page!

-M


	4. Dying and Confusion

I sit down on the corner of Miles' hospital bed,

"I have to meet with Batman tonight and the guys at the lab made you this." I pull out a small box with a red bow on top and hand it to him. Miles abandons Batgirl's batarang and tears into the box, producing a small gaming device and clicks it on, "Itll allow you to control a mechanical bird they created. It's small so it can be used to search ahead of us and stuff, like a scout."

"That's so cool! I get to meet Batman this way - well, sort of." Rustling his hair I kiss his forehead,

"I've got to go, Scout. Be online around ten thirty and don't forget that you get to come home tomorrow." Miles makes a noise of excitement,

"How could I have forgotten?"

-x-

I look at my watch then back at my closet, it was ten o'clock and I wanted to get to the meeting spot early but since I had acquired a larger crime-fighting wardrobe, deciding what to wear had begun to be harder than it should be.

I finally decide on brown pants with light pink pinstripes tucked into brown, leather boots, a matching waist coat that has steel plating on the inside of it as protection instead of my corset, a cream blouse with bishop sleeves, and my goggles. I strap a steampunked pistol that shoot electrifying paintballs to one thigh and an extra magazine to the other before tying my hair into two buns.

I manage to get to the rooftop fifteen minutes later, ten minutes early, and a minute before Batman.

"Oh my god, it's Batman!" Scout chimes in my ear and I'm glad that I hadn't hooked his microphone up to the bird as it flew into the air and make an excited circle around the Dark Knight.

"Batman." I greet him with a tilt of the head, he looks around,

"Where's your partner?" I let Miles answer this,

"I'm the metal bird, I'm sorry I can't be there to meet you but I'm dying." Batman seems to slightly stiffen but nods,

"I'm sorry to hear that," He looks at me,

"His name is Scout."

"I'm sorry to hear about that, Scout." I roll my shoulders and change the subject,

"Can we get this over with? I have a busy day tomorrow." Batman nods,

"Then I'll keep this short, due to your intentions some members of the League would like to take you in as their protege. Namely Wonder Woman, Black Canary, or Captain Marvel." I nod slightly, biting my lip as I take in all this information.

"I'll think about it, oh and here-" I pull out a pocket watch smoke bomb that I had grabbed,

"This is for Batgirl, she'll understand why." He takes the device and tucks it into his utility belt.

"I'll make sure she gets it."

-x-

Batgirl POV

I look at the pocket watch that I know contains thick, smoke. Why was I strangely happy to receive this gift? I realize that she must have felt it was an even trade for the batarang but - ugh. I'm thinking about this way too much, I've only met her once. But then again... I couldn't shake this feeling that she wasn't going to go away so easily. Especially since there was a rumor going around the Cave that Canary, our occasional den mother, was going to be taking Tick Tock in as a protege.

Sighing I put the trinket on my bookshelf and go to talk to Black Canary.

"Canary?" I knock on her bedroom door, a few seconds pass and she opens the door,

"Batgirl, hey." She lets me in, "Need something?" I sit down on the edge of the bed and so does she,

"I heard that you might take Tick Tock on as a protege…" I wring my hands,

"That's correct." She nods her head in confirmation,

"Would that mean that she'd join the team?" Canary shakes her head,

"Only if she wanted to, I would have her come with me here when I do and maybe join in on a few missions with you but whether or not to become a full fledged member of the team will be completely up to Tick Tock. That is if she accepts my offer." I stand up,

"Okay, thanks. I was just wondering…" I quickly exit the room and run for the zeta tubes as she calls for me,

"Wait, Batgirl!"

That night I go to the bed satisfied with the answers that Black Canary had given me but confused as hell about what I planned to do with them.

-x-

A/N: Hi everybody! Thank you to all of you who have reviewed and favorited, and followed I really do appreciate it! I know that the bit of convo between Batman and Miles was a little bit OOC for Batman but I mean, who wouldn't feel bad for a kid that's dying? I've closed the love interest poll and have decided that Batgirl will be the love interest due to the votes. I'm not going to create a poll for this one but please review who you think would be the best mentor out of the three heroes mentioned in the story. Like always, message me anything you think I could do to make the story better.

-M


	5. Beautiful Redheads and Tired Brothers

I wasn't' lying to Batman when I told him I had a busy day today. Tonight my mother was hosting a charity dance for fundraising. VIPs like Bruce Wayne and Commissioner Gordon would be attending.  
Even though the invite says fundraiser it really means, ' come, drink, dance, write checks, and hope for a mention in the gossip column on page six.'

I spend the whole day with Miles, who had been released from the hospital for a week of family time, and mulling over who we want to be our mentor. We get it down between Black Canary and Captain Marvel.  
Realizing that it's time to join our company I don my strapless emerald dress and black high heels, Miles had picked my outfit himself and was very proud of himself. Exiting my room I knock on Miles' door and open it to find him fumbling to tie his tie.  
"Here, let me, Scout." I carefully tie and straighten the length of silky fabric and fiz his stiff collar, "There, my date looks amazing." Miles holds out his arm to escort me, grip it gently as we walk down the stairs into the party, which is in full swing.

"Would you like to dance?" Miles asks me, I bite my lip,

"One dance, but the I need to network." He groans softly but nods his head in understanding, a party couldn't just be a party in this family. Miles and I dance through two songs (I admit, I fell for his puppy dog eyes) and before I can make it across the room to Mr. Wayne a red haired girl intercepts me - it's the infamous Barbara Gordon.  
"Hello there." She gives me a dazzling grin and I feel my pulse quicken - she's absolutely stunning in a shimmering purple gown that hugs her curvaceous body. "I'm Barbara Gordon, it's a _pleasure_ to meet you."  
"Charlene Sparrow, the pleasure is _all_ mine." Barbara holds out a dainty hand,  
"Would you give me the pleasure of of dancing with you, Charlene?" I hate my first name, I really do, but hearing her say it made me want it get tattooed in bold on my forehead,  
"I would be delighted." I let her grasp my arm and escort her to the dance floor.

Barbara immediately takes the lead in a way I find incredibly attractive, placing her hand firmly on my hip. "You are a very forward person, Barbara." I note and she chuckles, a slight flush appearing on her face,  
"I admit that I may of had a glass of champagne when my father wasn't looking…" Now it's my turn to laugh,  
"Well I guess then perhaps you should retire before you do something you'll regret." A slight frown tugs at her red velvet lips,  
"But maybe I want to dance with the prettiest girl in the room for just a little while longer…" Blushing harshly I brush a strand of the soft, auburn hair I had imagined touching a million times over in the past year, starring into her intense blue eyes,  
"Well then, Princess. Looks like we'll be seeing a lot more of each other." This seems to satisfy the redhead since she gives my hip a small squeeze that sends goosebumps up my spine.

A few dances later Richard Grayson cute in and I get a chance to clear my head by stepping out onto the balcony. Leaning against the the banister I take a deep breath of cool air.  
Barbara Gordon was beautiful. smart, and her infamous charming reputation from the up and ups of Gotham that she regularly rubbed elbows with did not do her justice.  
I had noticed her a lot over the years - how could I not? Often on the arm of the Prince of Gotham she lit up the whole room with her smile and when she told stories everyone in earshot would stop to listen with undivided attention. With my flirtatious nature and sexual orientation I had chosen to keep my distance as a safeguard to my family's reputation (Or that's at least what I tell myself).  
But tonight all of my precautions had gone to hell as soon as I heard her voice. God damn, her voice made me weak in the knees (A not too pleasant event while wearing four inch heels). I'm torn out of my thoughts by someone opening the balcony doors.  
"Charlie?" Miles walks outside, a burst of noise interrupting the silence of the star-filled night, and drapes an arm around my waist.  
"Hey there, Prince Charming." I wrap an arm around his shoulder, he sags into my side, yawning. "You okay, Scout?" I adjust us so I can look into his drooping green eyes, he yawns once again, covering his gaping mouth with a hand.  
"Yeah, just really tired all of the sudden." Wrapping a supporting arm around his waist I half carry him across the ballroom and up the stairs to his bedroom before retiring to my own. I shoot mom a text, saying that Miles and I were done for the night and spend the next ten minutes stripping all traces of the night away except for the irritating tingle on my skin from everywhere that Barbara had touched it.  
I lie down in bed just before Miles walks in,  
"What's up, Scout?" Without a word the twelve year old climbs into my bed and cuddles into my side like he did as a small child. I kiss the top of his head and begin to softly sings a lullaby, which slowly carries the pair of us into a peaceful sleep.

-x-

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed! Okay, so th enext chapter might take a bit longer to publish because I'll be loosing some free time when I leave camp (weird I know) and because I'll be writing two different routes it could take and comparing them to decide which mentor to use, BC or CM. Keep reviewing and I'll try to write as fast (and decent) as I can!

Fun Fact: Bach is Charlie's favorite composer due to her mother's dislike of his music.

-M


	6. Why Does My Family Know So Many Heroes?

(A/N: Read it through and everything will be explained in the bottom note!)  
I wipe a bit of blood off of my cheek, feeling the ridges of the cut there. I should have ducked.

"That's got to hurt." Captain Marvel says as he and Black Canary jump down from the rooftop after watching me fight a gang of thugs, my staff hand been broken halfway through the fight and Scout's bird had distracted the thugs long enough with annoying pricks of his beak for me to get the upper hand by using hand - to - hand techniques my Marine combat trainer had taught me.

"It does but I'm pretty sure I bruised a rib or two as well." I cringe as I bend down to pick up the part of my staff but as soon as I do I drop them, stars dancing in my vision,

"Let me get that." Captain picks it up for me as Black Canary checks out the cut on my face,

"It's going to need stitches so your best bet is going to change and cry wolf about being jumped on your walk." Cap nods in agreement to this statement,

"Personally if I was you I would change, dirty up your clothes, and wander into the nearest police station, file a bogus report, and stick to it." I nod,

"Sounds like a plan, I'll see you two tomorrow." With that said we all go our own ways and, which is how I find myself in the police station with a cop holding a pen.

-x-

"Is that all Miss Sparrow?" With the most traumatized shaking I can manage, I nod.

"Y-yes ma'am." I brush my bangs back to show the black eye beginning to form on my porcelain face, she closes her notebook,

"Then I guess you're free to go, we called home and someone should be here soon." I stand up, stretching my muscles through the pain. Bruised ribs had become a common occurrence for me lately and I was getting better at handling the pain that comes with them.

"How many times have I picked you up from this place, Charlie?" A familiar voice says and I jump around,

"Adam!" I fling myself into the nineteen year old's strong arms, "I missed you so much." He puts me down and rustles my hair,

"So what did you do this time, Mud Bug?" I glare at him as he smirks, he knows how much I hate that nickname.

"I got jumped, I put up a fight, he took of when I hit him with some pepper spray." My older cousin's face contorts with anger and his fist clenches, before he can break anything I rest a hand on his arm, "I'm fine, Corporal." Adam looks down at me with his brown eyes and his jaw relaxes,

"Fine, come on Mud Bug. Let's get you home."

-x-

 **(A/N: Bet none of you were expecting to meet a new character, maybe there's a reason...Maybe not…)**

-x-

The next morning I sit up in bed, groaning in pain,

"Oh hush." I slam my fist down on my alarm to silence it, causing it to fall off of the nightstand that it had been teetering on. I check the time, 10:46. "Oh shit." Jumping up I grab an arm full of clothes out of my closet and hop into a freezing cold shower. I'm supposed to be meeting Black Canary for lunch at 11:30 at a little cafe in Gotham. I pull on the dark skinny jeans, purple tank top, and brown riding boots, and leather jacket. Brush my hair back into a ponytail and add some simple makeup before running down the stairs to find m and Miles sitting at the counter eating breakfast, "Morning, Scout. Morning, Corporal." I run past them, planting a kiss on Miles' head,

"And where do you think you're going, Mud Bug?" Adam asks me as I grab my bike keys off their hook,

"I'm meeting my friend for lunch and I'm going to be late."

"I'll drive you." I almost drop my keys,

"Adam, no. I'm sixteen, I can drive myself." He stands up, running a hand through his dark brown hair that's not much more than a buzz cut, "Adam, no. Sit down, spend the day with Miles, I'll be home before curfew." I cringe, I was not helping my case. Adam proves this point by grabbing the keys to my Camaro,

"Come on, Mud Bug." I open my mouth but he stares me down with his hard eyes, "No arguing." _Shit._ Miles has to stifle a chuckle and I give him a withering look when he releases his laughter,

"Miles…" His eyes widen and he remembers where I'm going,

"Be careful." I nod and open the garage door to find Adam revving up my Camaro, I hop into the passenger seat,

"I could have driven myself, now step on it. Auntie's Cafe on Fifth." Adam whistles,

"Impatient much?" But he takes off anyways, I send a text to Black Canary.

Self: Possible _civilian interference from my side. Unavoidable, I'm sorry._

BC: _**It** **happens, we'll find a way around it.**_

I give a sigh of relief that she understand and a few minutes later we pull up to the cafe and Adam steps out of the car with me, I look at him.

"Where do you think you're going, Corporal?" He holds open the door for me,

"I'm craving a blueberry muffin and coffee," He raises an eyebrow, "Problem?" I don't answer him and walk through the door, I spot a blonde sitting in a corner booth wearing a leather jacket and reflective sunglasses,

"Dinah?" Adam walks over to the blonde and gives her a hug, I stand there shocked. How did he know Black Canary? I walk over and sit in the booth,

"So I heard you've been promoted since last time, Adam. Congrats." Dinah looks at me and I point between the two of them,

"How do you two know each other?" Black Canary shrugs,

"A very long and confidential story, what about you two?" Adam slips into the booth next to me,

"This is my cousin, Charlie. Now my question is, why you two are meeting in a corner booth with reflective sunglasses?" I swallow hard and Canary glares at him,

"Why don't you go get us some coffee, Corporal Blight." He stiffens next to me,

"Yes, Ma'am." He leaves the booth, I sigh, taking off my sunglasses,

"Looks like I won't be needing these anymore, Charlene Sparrow, a pleasure." Black Canary shakes my hand,

"Dinah Lance, so, what's the daughter of a billionaire doing running around Gotham with a mechanical bird as a partner?" I chuckle, realizing how stupid it sounds when said aloud,

"Well, it's not that complicated actually. Harley Quinn and the Joker made a victim of me and I don't plan on letting that happen again." Dinah nods,

"Perfectly reasonable, got your keys?" I hold up the keys I had swiped from Adam's pocket when he stood up, "Then how about we go somewhere else?" I grin and she tosses a bill on the table before we run out of the cafe, "  
Charlie!" Adam yells after us, I toss her the keys and hop into the car right as she guns it down the road.

-x-

"Whoo!" I giggle, bracing myself as she power slides around the corner,

"So, have you heard of the Young Justice team?" I shake my head,

"Kid Flash and Robin, right?" She nods,

"Plus a lot of other heroes, we're expanding the team at the moment." I see what's she's trying to do,

"I don't work well in groups, Dinah!" I shriek as she swerves into the wrong side of traffic and then into a parking garage. She looks at me, running a hand through her blonde hair,

"Well, Batgirl is on the team…" My face flushes, thinking about the redhead in her body - hugging suit, Dinah chuckles, "Come on, I'll introduce you to the team." We climb out of the car and she leads me to a broom closet,

"Uh." She opens the door and steps inside,

"Wait here for ten seconds then step in and I'll zeta you through." I do as she says and within a minute I'm standing at the mouth of what looks to be a cave turned secret hide out.

"Nice place." I comment, pushing my sunglasses up the bridge of my nose, Batgirl, Robin, Kid Flash, Artemis, Miss Martian, Superboy, and a large metal sphere enter the room,

"Guys, this is Tick Tock. She won't be joining the team but you'll most likely be seeing a lot of her." I smile,

"Hey, call me Deirdre." Kid Flash steps forward

"I'm Wally West, that's Artemis, M'gann, Conner, and the Bats. Kaldur is in Atlantis" Conner steps forward,

"And that's Sphere." Sphere rolls up to me, beeping happily, I pat her like I would a cat,

"Hey there, girl." Black Canary places a hand on my shoulder,

"Well, I guess we'll hang out here for the day." The teams let out assorted signs of happiness, M'gann, Artemis, and Batgirl walk up to me,

"So, Deirdre, let's have some girl time." M'gann grabs my hand and tugs me down the hall with the other two girls trailing behind us as we enter what looks to be a training room I hop up onto the balance beam and perch there,

"What's up?" I ask, M'gann shrugs,

"Tell us about yourself, that seems like a good place to start." I shrug, cracking my back,

"First off my name isn't Deirdre but it's close enough, I'm a pisces, and I'm sixteen." A small gasp comes from Batgirl's mouth but she covers it up with a cough,

"Sorry, my throat tickled." Her voice is very familiar... I leave that thought alone for a minute and turn my attention to Artemis,

"So, what do you think of Black Canary?" The blonde girl shrugs,

"She's pretty cool, likes to hang out at the Cave once and a while to check up on us and act as a den mother." I nod, biting my lip,

"What about Captain Marvel?" M'gann giggles,

"Billy? Oh, he's a great boy." Wait - boy? "He can be a little immature but he always seems to know what to do. I think he just needs a chance to prove to the League that he's more than just a kid with powers." I raise an eyebrow,

"How old is he?" Miss Martian scratches her head and Batgirl answers for her,

"He turned eleven last month," I nod, he's younger than both Miles and I but I guess I'll be able to talk to him more later when I meet up with him at an arcade (A choice of location that makes more sense now). Artemis leans forward, placing her elbows on her knees,

"So, who do you think you'll pick?" I groan, leaning back on the balance bar and stretching out my back,

"I have no clue. I'll have to talk to my partner about it tonight." Artemis quirks an eyebrow,

"Partner? Who is he? Your boyfriend?" I snort,

"Hell no, he's family. Plus I'm a lesbian, so no boyfriends for me." The girls all show no sign of shock or disgust which immediately makes them cool in my book. "I mean, I can call him up, see if he is free to talk if you guys want." Miss Martian nods her head vigorously,

"We'd love to talk to him," She pauses, confused, "What do we call him?" I shrug, pulling out my cell phone and dialing Miles,

"Scout's fine." He picks up,

"What did you do to Adam? He's pretty pissed-"I cut him off,

"Long story, Scout. I'll tell you later but I'm with the Young Justice girls and they'd like to talk to you." I can hear him knock something over by doing a happy dance, "You're going on speaker in a sec." I hit the button, "There."

"Heeyy, Scoouutt." The girls chime in,

"Um, hi?" The girls giggle,

"So, how old are you?" Miss Martian asks,

"Um, twelve, but trust me. I'm mature for my age." Snorting I hand the phone to Artemis, it was only a burner so they wouldn't be getting any information from it,

"I'll leave you three to talk to cassanova there, I'll go talk to the guys." I stand up and walk out of the room and into the living room where I find the guys playing COD. I plop down on the floor next to Wally who seems to have lost, giving Conner his controller,

"Why'd you leave the girls?" I pull my hair out of its ponytail and run my fingers through it,

"They're talking to my partner, Scout." Wally nods,

"So what, your boyfriend?" I sigh,

"Why does everyone assume I'm straight?" Connor's eyes widen,

"Wait, what?" I start to braid my hair,

"I'm a lesbian, I like girls, not guys." Robin chuckles,

"I think that second part applies to us too." We all laugh and I end up spending the rest of my time at the cave playing video games with the guys. Robin gives me clearance to zeta to the tube nearest to the arcade I'm meeting Billy at.

-x-

I spot a small boy by the front of the arcade,

"Billy, hey!" I walk over, he scratches the back of his head,

"So, I'm guessing you met the team then…" I nod,

"I'm totally cool with it, I even called my partner. He should be here in a minute." Just then a cab pulls up and Miles steps out wearing a Batman t-shirt,

"Hey, I'm - Billy?" Miles and Billy bro hug,

"Why does it seems like everyone in my family knows a super?" I groan, Billy explains his connection to Miles, apparently his uncle had taken him to volunteer at the hospital that Miles was usually cooped up in and they had become friends. Miles pulls out three rolls of quarters,

"So, who's ready to have some fun?" Smiling I rustle both of their hairs, I think we've made our choice.

A/N: So, I know some of you won't be happy that she's choosing CM as a mentor but have faith, I have a lot of ideas and one of the reviewers made a good point, Billy needs a chance for character development and that's what I want to give him. Adam was something I added in without thinking about it. He's her twenty year old cousin on her mom's side who is a Corporal in the army, he enlisted at seventeen with his parent's permission when he almost over dosed on drugs. He's always been close to Charlie and yes, there is a story behind her nickname.  
I hope that none of you are mad at my decision and you chose to review. Next chapter they'll be some action, I promise, plus I'll try to get it up sooner this time.

 _ **Fun Fact: Charlie's steampunk obsession came on when she fell asleep reading The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross.**_

-M


	7. Bad Guys and Ill placed knives

"Okay, relax a little more, Charlie." Captain Marvel tells me as I hit the punching bag at the Cave's gym where we train three times a week in basic combat and then two times a where we practice with my gadgets.

"I am relaxed, Cap." I retort, but relax my shoulders, Cap and I had gotten into the routine of training with sibling banter then going for ice cream or something afterwards to relax.

"Okay, now make sure that you breath out with the punch." My breathing switches to manual and I can feel a change in the power of my punch. "There you go. Now start to add in those kicks I taught you earlier." I do what he says, feeling the sweat bead on my hairline as it carries on for several minutes. Footsteps sound outside the gym and Batgirl appears, I look up to see her stutter step in the threshold.

"Sorry to interrupt but Batman sent warning that we're getting a mission-" The tone of her voice makes me believe that this isn't a regular thing, "And if you have a spare uniform with you then you can join us." I look at Cap who nods,

"If you want to we'll end our session here and you can just spend some extra time training tomorrow." I jump up and hug my mentor,

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" I run over to Batgirl, picking up my bag on my way to her, "Anywhere I can change?" The redhead nods, turning and leading me down a hallway and points to a door,

"Here, it's a spare bedroom. Be in the main room for briefing in-" She looks at what looks to be a holographic watch, "Eight minutes." She leaves the room, closing the door behind her, I immediately strip out of my training clothes and pull on the uniform I had packed (I was really hoping to go on a mission or patrol), a green long sleeved shirt, a brown underbust corset, with two golden ammunition belts around the waist, brown pants tucked into brown boots with golden accents. I attach my electric paintball pistol and my goggles, I'm about to walk out of the room before I remember to grab Scout. I perch him on my shoulder and since Miles is unable to control him since he was sent back to the hospital and was spending today being poked and prodded at with the bonus of lots of full body scans.

I make it to the briefing with a few seconds to spare, Batman walks in just as I take a spot next to Batgirl,

"Listen up team, you'll be split into two groups, there have been two tips of where the Freeze Jr. is located. Team one will consist of Kid Flash, Aqualad, Artemis, Superboy, and Sphere. Team two is Wolf, Batgirl, Robin, Miss Martian, and Tick Tock. Coordinates will be sent to you immediately. Keep radio contact at all times." I take that as a dismissal and follow the rest of the team to what looks to be a space ship.

"Deirdre, this is my Martian Bioship. She'll take us to where we need to go." With a singular hand motion the back of the ship opens up and we board the ship, "Take a seat and we'll launch in a minute for," She looks at a screen, "Dayton, Ohio." I sit down and straps wrap around my body,

"Woah." I says, pulling at the flexible material that doesn't let up,

"Gets everybody on the first time, pretty cool, huh?" Robin says, spinning in his chair, he jerks a thumb towards Batgirl, "Batgirl over here made a high pitched squeak the first time she sat down." Batgirl narrows her blue eyes at Robin and I stifle a laugh,

"You are so going to pay for that later." Robin raises an eyebrow,

"Is that a threat or a promise?" She cracks her knuckles as an answer and I see the Boy Wonder pale, and then it all clicks.

"Holy shi-" Everyone looks at me, including Wolf, who trots over to me curiously. I scratch him behind the ear,

"What's wrong, Tick Tock?" I shake my head,

"Nothing, I just realized something. It's no big deal." It's totally a big deal, Barbara Gordon was Batgirl, Richard Grayson is Robin, and that means, holy shit, Bruce Wayne is Batman! Okay, I'm going to have to schedule a date with Barbara tomorrow...

I'm ripped out of my thoughts by M'gann speaking,

"We'll be landing in a minute, get ready. I spot ten hostile personnel with weapons at the landing site, they're expecting us." Robin's hand flies up to his ear,

"Team Two to the Cave, they're expecting us." M'gann interrupts,

"They're thinking about - oh my god. They've got hostages, two small children that they think have some sort of powers. We have to move in. No mentions of Freeze Jr. though. " Robin relays this information and I stand up, pulling electrified, claw-tipped, gloves from my pants pocket and strap them on,

"Do you know how old?" I ask, M'gann closes her eyes,

"I can see them, they look around ten or eleven. Maybe twelve, a boy and a girl." I grit my teeth,

"Then let me at them. Drop me two buildings away and I'll make my way over, I have infrared in my goggles and I'll feed you information."

"Take back up, Batgirl go with her." Robin orders, "M'gann, link us up."

" _Link established."_ M'gann's voice sounds in my head,

"That's weird." I mutter, M'gann opens a hole in the floor, I tap my bracelet that holds a thing grappling hook and grab Batgirl movie style by the waist, "Now let's go." I manage to get us onto a rooftop two buildings away from our original target.

" _Okay everybody, I see ten guards on top and then the hostages are being held on the third floor from the top with five guards in the room with them. Two on each floor leading up to them, all armed."_ I relay this information over our mind meld thing, I look at Batgirl,

"Time to create a distraction, can you set off every single alarm in that building at once?" She scoffs,

"Of course I can, just give me a second." I bite my lip, I like her all confident and bold,

" _We're about to move in."_ Robin says, I shake my head,

" _Do that and you're dead. We're setting up a distraction, just give us a second. We'll attack at once."_ I look at Batgirl,

"You ready?" She asks, I nod,

"Do it." Just like that the whole building is sent into turmoil, Batgirl grabs me by the waist and grapples us over to the building where we begin to kick some major ass.

Batgirl and I land back to back in the middle of all ten guards, I throw a smoke bomb and shoot the first thing that moves, dodging the hail of bullets that rain down upon us,

" _Move in!"_ Batgirl shouts over our link and I know that our other members are attacking from the ground up. I take one of the guys into a sleeper hold and throw his bulking body at another guard.

" _That's it for the top floor of guards, moving onto the second level now."_ Batgirl says, I open up the roof door but she shakes her head and kicks in the grate to the air duct, "This way, Tick Tock." I give her a flirtatious grin, this isn't the best time for me to make a move but I kiss her cheek anyways before dropping down the shoot, using my hands and feet to slow myself into a quiet landing,

" _Dropping into second floor now."_ I communicate before doing just that, I shoot both of the guards with pellets that shock them until they pass out. Batgirl lands next to me,

"We so need to talk later." I shrug,

"One more floor, I'll take left, you take right then we'll grab the children and get out through the fire escape through the window on the left wall." I point to the window on the holographic map I had pulled up from my signet ring.

"Then let's go." I let her drop down first and then follow, I shoot a guard and then duck down to dodge another's fist. I kick his knee but it backfires and he lands on top of me,

"Good job, little bitch. Now you're going to die." I feel a sharp pain as a knife enters my stomach.

"Ahh!" I scream before knocking my head against him, knocking him out. I push him off of me to see the handle of what looks to be a kitchen knife sticking out of me, the third guard runs up to me but I shoot him with three pellets and watch him drop.

" _I've been injured. Medical attention ASAP."_ I relay over link, hobbling over to the children who are tied up with rope in the center of the room where Batgirl is already attending to them.

" _What's happened, Tick Tock?"_ Robin's voice floods my head,

" _Bad guy lost balance and fell on top of me, he stabbed me in the abdomen with what looks like a standard kitchen knife."_ Batgirl's head snaps up to look at me, the kids stand up and stretch their limbs,

"Can you make it out of here?" Gritting my teeth I nod, "Then let's go." I walk over to the little girl,

"What's your name, sweetie?" The ebony haired girl stares at me with wide, brown eyes,

"Alexandra, are you dying?" She asks, looking at the blood seeping through my clothes, the blade had been stuck right between the metal platings of the underbust I'd been wearing. Even though stars are dancing in my vision I shake my head,

"No, Alexandra." I give her a small smile and take her hand, leading her towards the window, "I'm too stubborn to die. All superheroes are." This elicits a small giggle from the haggard child,

" _Fire escape on the left side of the building, Miss Martian, we need the ship here now."_

" _Already on the way."_ M'gann replies, just then the Bioship de-camouflages right in front of the window, a door opening in the side.

"In you go, Alexandra." I say, helping the small girl out of the window before climbing out myself,

"Holy crap, Tick Tock." Robin says, catching me when I stumble into the bioship, "You've lost a lot of blood." Before I can say anything, everything fades to a painful darkness.

A/N: Oooh! The suspense, when I was writing this last scene my mom came into the loft and I was like 'Guess who just got stabbed' after a slight freak out she proceeded to explain how that wasn't a good thing to ask while eating strawberry jelly from a PB&J off your fingers. I'm sorry about how the last chapter was originally formatted but I did fix that after it was brought to my attention by two reviewers. Keep the reviews coming, I really appreciate them! As always, message me if you have any comments or questions.

 _ **Fun Fact: Charlie finds it easier to fall asleep standing up than in a bed due to all the years spent in hospitals overnight, watching over Miles. One time her family found her asleep in a fire place, waiting for Santa Claus so that she could ask him to cure Miles when she was nine.**_

-M


	8. A Little Fluff and a Big Wolf

I wake up with something large and warm laying across my legs, making it so that I can't move. I peel open my eyes to see that Wolf is napping on my legs, the rest of the team is slumped in various sleeping positions around the room, Billy included.

"Guys?" I groan, propping myself up on my elbows, wincing against the pain in my stomach. "What are you all doing here?" M'gann is the first to wake up,

"Deirdre, you're awake!" The Martian flies over and hugs me tightly around the shoulders, "You're awake." She sniffles, I hug her back, smoothing her soft hair,

"I'm awake, M'gann. I'm awake and alive." She pulls back, rubbing tears from her eyes, ever since I had been spending more time at the Cave she had taken a sisterly affection to me and I to her. I grab her hand and squeeze it before she backs into Connor's embrace, he and I lock eyes and I take that as him being happy to see me awake as well. Robin, Kid Flash, and Kaldur take one side of the bed and Batgirl and Artemis take the other side, Wolf just keeps on snoring on my legs.

"We are happy to see you well, Deirdre. The doctors had entertained the possibility that you could have gone into a coma." He rests a hand on my arm, "We are glad that they were wrong." I offer a weak smile,

"I'm happy as well, all of you should go home though." They look at me with varying looks of astonishment,

"You might not want to be but we see you as part of the team and we're-" I hold up a hand to stop Robin,

"Okay, Boy Wonder, let me stop you right there." Artemis snorts then covers it up with a cough, "I say this because I love you all, get the hell out of this hospital before I get out of this bed and kick your asses." KF holds up his hands,

"Woah there, Steamy. Don't tear your stitches." I mock glare at him for the nickname, Artemis pats my head,

"I'm back here first thing in the morning," She narrows her grey eyes at me, "No arguments." The team starts to file out of the room but Batgirl stays behind for a second and grabs my hand,

"It's my fault you're in here." Robin closes the door behind him when he leaves and Batgirl pulls off her cowl, revealing herself to be just who I thought - Barbara Gordon. "I should have taken that guy out before helping the kids." I squeeze her hand and she drops into the chair behind her,

"Barbara, it's not your fault, it's mine. I failed the maneuver and I failed to protect myself." Some hair falls into her face as tears run down her cheeks, "Barbara, please. It's not your fault." Barbara rests her head in the hand I place on her cheek, "This is going to sound a lot like blackmail but-" I brush away a tear with my thumb, "If you don't stop blaming yourself I'm not going to ask you on a date the moment I get out of here." Barbara looks up at me, sniffling,

"What?" I brush her hair out of her eyes,

"You heard me, Bat. Now stop your sniffling, you need to get home before your father sends out a search party." Barbara stands up, replacing her cowl on her head,

"You do have a point, Charlene." She pulls the goggles, that I hadn't realized the surgeons had left on, off my head and bends down to touch foreheads with me, "But I'll be coming back tomorrow to see you." She doesn't kiss me or look back besides to call for Wolf who promptly ignores her. The door shuts behind her and Wolf snuggles his way up my body, somehow managing to avoid the stitches and resting his head on the other half of my stomach. I scratch his head,

"Why are you here, Wolf? You don't even like me." Wolf looks at me and huffs, as if implying that the time he used my combat boot as a chew toy was a show of affection, I roll my eyes, "You're the weirdest teammate ever, you know that?" Wolf prods my hand with his snout, demanding to be pet. I oblige before the nurse comes into the room to give me some more medication, one of them apparently is a sleep aid and I pass out within a few minutes.

I dream vividly of blooming flowers that for some unknown reason speak with a French accent while reciting various parts of Romeo and Juliet. Wtf.

A/N: So I'm a *bit* sad (okay a lot) that my last chapter only got one review (that my account won't even let me see) and so I decided to put in this little filler chapter instead of a full length. You all will get one when I get a review or two. MWAHAHAHA! I SHALL HOLD IT HOSTAGE FOR AS LONG AS IT TAKES. (Or at least until I get bored). As always, message me with any concerns or ideas that you have, and most importantly leave a review to get that next chapter!

 _ **Fun Fact: After Miles' first chemo session he had Charlie shave his head and wore a hot pink wig, cut into a bob for two months before it mysteriously disappeared from his room. (The nurse was bribed by Trenton to do so).**_


	9. Hospitals are Bad Conspiracies are Worse

The next morning after my morning dose of pills Artemis walks in with a laptop and two pints of ice cream.

"Ooh, Rocky Road, my favorite." Artemis chuckles,

"Mine too but the nurse made me promise to feed you vanilla only." I groan but scoot over on the bed so Artemis can climb up, she lays next to me and opens up the laptop,

"So, what do you want to watch?" I use the touch screen to take a quick look at the Netflix queue,

"How about Down Periscope?" I really like that movie, Adam had insisted that I watch it when I was twelve and I had been obsessed with it for a whole week after that. I look at the blonde, "Have you ever seen it?" She shakes her head and I mock gasp, "Put it on now and fall victim to it's awesomeness." Artemis clicks on the movie and rests the laptop between us before doling out the spoons and ice cream, Wolf trots over and noses my leg. I spoon out some vanilla ice cream and lower it down so that he can have some. Artemis wrinkles her nose at me,

"Did you just feed Wolf ice cream from your spoon?" I nod, petting the beast,

"He's growing on me, I admit it." Wolf snorts and circles before taking a spot on the ground to nap. The ice cream tastes really good as it enters my mouth, "Tank gu." I mumble with my mouth full of ice cream, Artemis nods as the movie begins to play.

Barbara walks into the room just as Artemis is getting ready to exit,

"Hey, Art, what's up?" Barbara shrugs of her leather jacket and tosses it onto the chair she had occupied last night, Artemis tugs at her ponytail,

"Had a breakfast of ice cream and movies to cheer up, Steamy here." I groan as Barbara laughs,

"Really, guys. Why steamy?" Barbara starts gasping with laughter, waving a hand at me,

"What are you laughing so hard at, Bat?"

"I'm imagining you with steam coming out of your nose and ears." I make a face at her,

"Laugh it up.' I say, moodily crossing my arms over my chest, chuckling Artemis leaves with Wolf and Barbara walks over to where I am playfully pouting,

"Oh come oh, Charlene." Just then something in my bag of personal items starts to make noise,

"Charlie, Charlie come in. Pleases, sis." It's Miles calling for me through his bird, I quickly turn the lense of my goggles to see Miles pop up on the screen, "Charlie, thank god. I hacked into the base hospital cameras so I could check in on you." Miles gets close to the screen, "You and Batgirl have to get out of there, there's a guy with a gun in his jacket on his way to you." Barbara reacts immediately reacts,

"Take off those goggles and wrap this around your head," She grabs a bloody bandage that the nurse had thrown away and tosses it at me. Cringing I do just that and reach into my bra, producing an emergency communications unit, she rolls a wheelchair over to the bed and then helps me into it. She starts wheeling me towards the door and I manage to grab my paintball pistol

"Barb, what's the plan?" She starts to push me through the room door,

"I'm saving your ass." Barbara says, pulling the fire alarm, "Now play sick and dying." I go limp and let my head dangle at a weird angle, watching the crowd through hooded eyes.

"Buzz cut with the jean jacket, twelve o'clock." I murmur, just loud enough for Barbara to hear me. The assassin's eyes flicker to us and widen in recognition as he passes, he kicks the wheel, sending me skidding, I jump out and place two in his chest.

"Duck!" Barbara shouts and I hit ground, she flips over me and takes down another man with a pressure point attack. Ignoring the throbbing pain in my gut I get back up,

"Another two on their way, baseball caps." Miles informs me,

"Two more on their way up with baseball caps." I shout over the alarm, I grab a crutch that had been abandoned and use it to limp towards the staircase,

"You okay, D?" Barbara asks, I nod,

"I'll live," A a bullet whizzes by my head and I duck, "Well, hopefully." Making sure I have a ball in the chamber I quickly look over the railing and shoot, but miss. "Damn." I hiss, their heavy boots thud against the stairs on their way up, I pull back the crutch and swing it just as they round the corner,

"Ahh!" The front man shouts, stumbling back into the second man who unleashes a hail of gunfire. Barbara pulls a batarang out and throws it at his hand, making him release the gun. I once again lean over the railing and unload two into each of their chests.

"Are we clear?" I ask Miles,

"All clear, Charlie." I let out a sigh of relief and pick up the crutch from the ground,

"Let's get out of here."

-x-

Barbara helps me out of the hospital and to the nearest zeta tube,

"I'll give you clearance as soon as I get to the Cave. Be ready." She bites her lip and gives my forehead a chaste kiss before zeta-ing out. I step into the phone booth and a light flashes over me a few seconds later, giving me a warm feeling before I appear in the Cave.

"Deirdre, you opened your stitches." M'gann scolds me, I give her a tired look,

"We were being shot at, I'm sorry I didn't stay in my med bed." My voice is laced with sarcasm and she mock glares at me and levitates me to the medical bay where Black Canary is waiting for me with Batgirl.

"Lay her down on this cot so I can redo her stitches please, M'gann." Canary looks to Batgirl, "Drug her, please." Barbara sticks the pointy end of a purple filled syringe into my vein, "Thank you." My eyelids start to droop and my whole body relaxes against the stiff cot,

"That's it, Deirdre, just go to sleep. When you wake up I'll have you all patched up."

A/N: You have paid the ransom and as promised, your held- hostage chapter. It's not a lot but trust me, it's important. Very important. Now ask yourself, why would anyone want our little Steamy dead? I'll let you ponder that and feel free to send me any conspiracy theories (seriously, I could use help coming up with a credible one). As always message if you have ideas to make the story better or if I made a mistake in the chapter, and review!

 _ **Fun Fact: It was Miles' idea to have Charlie keep a comms unit on her at all times after he had a nightmare about her dying somewhere, alone.**_

-M __


	10. Who the hell-

Canary was right, I did feel a lot better when I woke up. Two weeks later.

"You put me into a coma?" I shout at Canary who doesn't even flinch,

"You needed rest to get better, if you were awake then you would have done something stupid to reopen your stitches. Again." She glares at me, "Not sit back down before I sedate you again." Grumbling I do as she says and sit down on the edge of the of the cot,

"Fine, but what did you tell my family?" Canary swabs the crook of my elbow and produces a blood taking needle that she promptly sticks me with it. "Ow!" I protest but quiet down under her gaze,

"Your cousin, Corporal Bligh, called the police and he was given a basic debriefing. The rest of your family, except Miles of course, I don't believe have noticed your absence." I nod, this is normal, I don't remember any important social events on my parent's calendar that I was supposed to be a pawn at. Which meant I was of no use to my parents. Adam on the other hands, it was always nice to have him home. He was a great guy and always looked after me like a big brother, or a father even. His parents, my aunt and uncle, had disowned him after he had almost overdosed on drugs (Adam had never told me which drug though) and then joined the Army at the age of seventeen. Though both of us had partied hard he never let me party with him, I had mostly smoke weed and done some ecstasy while he did heroine (which I had to figure out by myself) and even worse things.

"Did he ship back out?" I ask Canary, standing up and doing a light stretch,

"Yes, he left yesterday morning for... _Iraq._ " The way she says it makes my head snap to look at her as I tug the shirt that Black Canary had given me when I had first woken up over my head.

"Iraq?" The corners of her lips tug upward,

"More or less." Canary puts a Hello Kitty bandaid on the bubble of blood from where she took my blood,

"Hello Kitty?" I ask her, raising an eyebrow, she chuckles,

"They're fashionable, you're good to go, Charlene." I nod and walk out of the infirmary, I make it not even ten feet down the hall before a voice stops me.

"You look pretty good in my shirt." I turn around to see Barbara in civvies and sunglasses, walking leisurely towards me, hips swaying.

"Maybe I'll keep it then." I can tell that she is looking me over as she gets nearer, I roll my eyes. "Stop checking me out, Bat. I just woke up from a coma," My eyes widen in realization, "My hair must look horrid." I pat my head to find that indeed, my hair is a ratsnest. Barbara laughs,

"I think you look adorable, D." She reaches up to touch my hair and I bat her hand away,

"Leave it be." With a smug grin on her face she wraps an arm around my waist,

"Miles says hi by the way, I visited him while you were O.O.C." Barbara looks up at me, her voice softening, "He was really worried about you, thing was he wouldn't admit it. He put on a good show." I give a small smile, that sounds like my baby brother. Small, tough, and brilliant.

"After a hot shower the hospital will be my first stop." Barbara walks me to the zeta tubes,

"Message me later, okay?" She wraps me in a tight hug and I hold her close, "I'm so happy that you're awake." Her voice is low and soft and I want to kiss the lips that it comes from but I resist as I pull back,

"I'll text you later, Bat." I zeta out and manage to get into the house without being seen, after taking a shower I do exactly as I had said I would. I get into my Camaro and drive to the hospital. Taking the back way in to avoid the front desk,

"Who missed their favorite sister?" I push Miles' door open to find a girl dressed in all black with a full faced mask sitting on his bed, I reach for the backup smoke bomb in my back pocket, "Who the hell-" She cuts me off in a threateningly smooth voice,

"Ah ah ah, watch it, Princess." I close the door behind me, making sure that nobody notices anything suspicious.

"Who the hell are you?" I ask again my voice low and dangerous,

"I'm your worst nightmare." The dark clad girl growls, opening her palm and thrusting it to me, a dark mist coming towards me.

"Shit." I hit the ground, fighting off the slumber that's coming over me. My last thought being that I didn't think the hero business would come with so much passing out.

A/N: Okay so I know this is short for how long I made you wait for it but if you hate me for that you're going to hate me even worse for this: I'm going on vacation to a place with spotty wifi for the next two weeks. I'm really sorry! As always, review and message me what you think about the story, where I might have made a mistake, and call me out on my BS {Yes, I'm talking about you ;) }. I'll try to update ASAP but no promises, when I say spotty, I mean spotty.

 _ **Fun Fact: Charlie is a Pisces and Miles is a Taurus.**_


	11. Chips in Funny Places

I wake up with the smell of bleach invading my nostrils along with the scent of blood, I feel a pain in my left side and the rough rope tying my hands behind my back.

"Shit." I groan, peeling open my burning eyes only to be blinded by a bright light, I cringe back against the cool metal chair I'm in,

"So, you're finally awake." A chillingly smooth voice fills my ears, encouraging my headache,

"Where is my brother." I try to wiggle from my bonds but damn does this woman know how to tie knots,

"I swear to god if you even look at him funny, I will kill you." There's not a smidgen of reservation in my voice and I mean each word, the woman dressed in all black with the full faced mask looks at me with stone cold, blue eyes.

"Don't worry about your brother, Charlene. He's already back in his hospital room, ready for his next treatment. " I breathe out a small sigh of relief but suck it back in as she pulls out a knife, my only thought being, 'not again.' But she doesn't put the knife in my stomach but trails it down my cheek, I bite my tongue to keep from flinching in pain as blood trickles down my face and onto my ripped shirt.

"Right now, you should be worried about yourself." The woman pulls up a chair in front of me, "See, I'm not going to try and be your friend to trick you into joining our organization. Inserted into your spinal cord is a chip that will allow us to track your every movement, you'll receive orders on an encoded flash drive that you will pick up weekly. Fail to complete your task I won't kill you, I'll kill your brother and I will kill your friends." I close my eyes, knowing that I'm beat, I can feel the stitches at the base of my neck, so after a moment I reopen my eyes.

"Fine." Tears spill down my face, mixing with blood, "I'll do it, just don't hurt them." The masked woman injects me with something,

"You'll wake up in your bed, the first flash drive will be in your pants pocket." Darkness starts to overcome me as I chant to myself in soft whispers.

"Don't hurt them...Don't hurt them...Don't hurt them…"

I wake up, tucked into my bed in my street clothes, cell phone ringing on my bedside table. I roll over and pick it up,

"Hello?" My voice is hoarse and in desperate need of water,

"Where the hell have you been? You disappeared for three days!" Barbara shouts at me through the phone, I cringe, I hadn't realized how long I had been gone.

"Barbara, calm down. Please, come over to my place, we'll spend the day together." I get up out of bed and pull the small flash drive out of my pocket and plug it into my desktop computer, starting a decryption program on it. I pull off my top and walk into my on suite bathroom and begin warming up the shower.

"I'll be there in an hour, you owe me one hell of an explanation. Charlene," Barbara's voice is full of worry,

"I missed you." A smile graces my lips, a warm feeling filling my heart,

"I missed you too." She hangs up and I get in the shower, washing away the past three days, when I get out I call Scout on the phone as I get dressed.

"Charlie! Oh my god, Barbara said that you were MIA. I was so worried." I pull on a low cut tank top and some skinny jeans,

"I'm sorry, Scout. I got knocked out on patrol, I guess I should have been more careful. I probably got drugged but I'm good now." It's a total lie but I'm smart enough to know that telling Scout would be a big no no to whoever kidnapped me.

"No more solo patrols, at least not until you're fully healed. Okay?" His voice is shaking and I know he's tired and afraid,

"I promise I won't, okay? I'll come and visit soon, Barb is coming over to spend the day, she's also pissed at me. So if I live, I'll call." I pull my hair into a ponytail with a colorful band,

"I love you, Miles." I sit down at my computer, checking on the progress of the file, it was only 20% completed,

"I love you too, Charlie." I hang up and slip on my glasses, just as the doorbell rings.

"Mistress Charlie, Barbara Gordon is here to see you."

-x-

A/N: Okay, so that was a hell of a two week gap wasn't it? I'm sorry for not updating and I'm sorry this chapter isn't big but I promise that next chapter will have plenty of Tick-girl (Thanks to BubbleEwa for the ship name). I was going to do it in this chapter but I decided not to. Hopefully it will be up in the next few days.

 _ **Fun Fact: Charlene is a sucker for black and white Sherlock Holmes movies, especially ones starring Basil Rathbone.**_

-M


	12. Yelling, Kissing, Cookies

I walk into Charlene's mansion for only my third time and if I wasn't pissed off to high hell I'd be in awe. I stomp up the stairs to find Charlene standing outside of a door looking like an angel who's been to hell.

"I'm going to kill you, Charlie." I push her into the room and close the door behind us,

"You disappear for three days without a trace and just expect me to come over acting like everything is okay?" Charlene bites her lip,

"I...uh...Don't have a very good explanation for any of this. I don't remember anything that happened in the last three days but uh…" I'm so worried and angry that I'm about to yell again when Charlene shoves me against the wall and kisses me harshly. Her lips are soft and sweet and everything that I dreamed about. Our lips move in sync and I tangle my hands in her hair, her hands cup my face then trace the curves down my body, pushing me against her even more by grabbing my waist. I pull back and she seems slightly irritated by it,

"Charlie, I think we should talk more about this. I -" Her lips land on mine again but softer this time and all my rational thoughts melt away for what feels like the next decade before Charlene pulls away.

"I think I love you." Charlie's voice is heavy and breathy, my heart skips a beat and I hug her around the neck,

"I think I love you too." Charlie grabs my hands,

"Come on, Martha made cookies and I have all the Harry Potter movies on DVD." Charlie leads me down the staircase and to the kitchen where an older woman is sitting at the breakfast nook eating a bowl of chicken noodle soup, she smiles when we enter.

"Mistress Charlie, Mistress Barbara, how good to see you two together. Very cute, very cute, the cookies are in those containers on the counter. Chocolate chip and sugar cookies." A blush heats both of our cheeks,

"Thank you, Martha. We'll be in the movie room if you need us." Movie room, really? She has a movie room? It's all I can think about as she dishes out cookies and two bottles of Dr. Pepper. "Come on, Barb." I follow her out of the kitchen and down a long hallway,

"You have a movie room?" Charlene chuckles, smiling at me,

"It shouldn't be that surprising, your best friend is Richard Grayson after all." A smirk graces my lips as she pulls me into the dark, fabric draped room,

"And my girlfriend is the daughter of a billionaire." I flop down on the extremely comfortable couch that practically swallows me, "I could get used to this." Charlene puts in the movie and crawls on the couch with me, curling around me and bringing a blanket around us,

"Get used to it, Richard Grayson might be the Prince of Gotham, but I'll make you the queen." My heart flutters as she begins to stroke my hair,

"Mind if I kiss you?" I ask her, she giggles as I place a butterfly kisses on her neck, she bats at with,

"Barb, I really like this movie." I pout and kiss her firmly on the lips then pull away and snuggle into her embrace.

A/N: Okay, it's short but cute, right? Keep the reviews coming and suggest what you want to happen next. Sorry the updates are kinda slow but I just got a new kitten (His name is Watson and he's asleep on my keyboard at the moment so typing this is hard) as well as school is about to start and it's stressing me to high hell, I also just started therapy for major depression and severe anxiety...So...Till next time.

 _ **Fun Fact: Martha knows more than you think ;)**_

-M


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